Hello!

I am in my 7th semester of the MPHN program at UMass Amherst. This semester I am working on my practicum at the Communities Putting Prevention to Work (CPPW) grant office in San Antonio, TX which falls under the San Antonio Metropolitan Health District (Metro Health). I would like to highlight a few of the areas I am currently involved in:

San Antonio Food Policy Council (SAFPC)

Prior to the semester beginning, I was able to begin attending the steering committee meetings for the formation of the SAFPC. (Forming a food policy council is one of CPPW’s grant deliverables.) I was able to observe this formation process, the decisions regarding categories of membership, and the selection process that culminated this coalition building effort. Since beginning my practicum with CPPW, I have been involved with coordination efforts for the SAFPC, which has its official launch date October 27, 2010.

I have long been interested in the area of food insecurity and the food system, so it has been amazing to see some of the independent projects I’ve been working on begin to come together. Since mid-summer I have been working with a food systems expert to apply for a USDA Healthy Communities grant to fund a needs assessment of San Antonio. The state demographer took interest in our grant application and took the lead on it. A key partner in this grant application is the SAFPC, so I have been able to participate in not only writing the grant narrative, but also in the strategic planning process for how the SAFPC will use the assessment data once it becomes available.

Communities Putting Prevention to Work (CPPW)

The San Antonio CPPW grant has a nutrition component and a physical activity component. My activity with the nutrition portion has enabled me to observe the leadership team meetings where grant partners report their efforts toward achieving grant deliverables. In addition to grant partners, specific committees, such as the nutrition sub-committee, report their efforts as well. As part of the nutrition sub-committee’s efforts, I am working to coordinate with three national organizations, assigned to our CPPW office by the CDC, to provide technical assistance to help us better achieve our grant deliverables in the area of obesity prevention.

¡Por Vida!

¡Por Vida! is an initiative of the Healthy Restaurant Coalition to identify menu items of participating restaurants that meet ¡Por Vida! nutrition criteria. This coalition includes Metro Health, the San Antonio Restaurant Association, and the San Antonio Dietetic Association. I am thrilled to participate in this program – analyzing restaurants’ recipes, meeting with restaurateurs, and providing inservices. ¡Por Vida! launches October 13, 2010 with seven restaurants. Many more restaurants around town eagerly await their chance to display the ¡Por Vida! logo on their menus.

I will try to obtain and post pictures or press links from the ¡Por Vida! launch later this week.